Power converter with linear distribution of heat sources

ABSTRACT

A power converter design is disclosed with a novel approach to thermal management which enhances the performance and significantly reduces the cost of the converter compared to prior art power converters. The invention minimizes the heating of one power component by another within the power converter and therefore enables the power converter to work at higher power levels. Essentially, the power converter uses a heatsink having a high length to width ratio, a linear array of power components thermally coupled to the heatsink parallel to the long axis of the heatsink and a heat removal system which produces the highest cross sectional thermal flux perpendicular to said long axis. In addition, a number of ancillary thermal management techniques are used to significantly enhance the value of this basic approach. A specific circuit design for the power converter is not disclosed or discussed as the invention can be applied to any number of power converter electrical topologies. What is addressed is the specific thermal management of the three primary component groups found in any power converter; semiconductor devices, magnetic components and capacitors. The invention uses specific geometries and power component arrangements as well as strategic use of advanced thermal materials.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Power converters for renewable energy power conversion, motor drives and uninterruptible power systems (UPS) all use three basic power component types; semiconductor devices, magnet components and capacitors. All power components generate waste heat in the power conversion process.

Semiconductor devices generate heat due to conduction, switching and diode recovery losses. The waste heat must be transferred out of the device to limit the semiconductor die temperatures to safe maximums. Semiconductors are typically the primary source of power converter waste heat.

Magnetic components such as transformers and filter inductors have copper and core losses that generate heat, heat which must be removed to maintain the core properties and to protect the integrity of the electrical insulating materials.

Power capacitors used across a DC buss or as AC filters also generate heat from ripple currents acting against the internal impedance of a capacitor. Although the overall load on a power converter cooling system from capacitors is small compared to semiconductor and magnetic component losses, capacitors must operate at much lower temperatures to ensure their longevity.

The power rating of any power converter is a function of the power device ratings and the efficiency of the heat removal process. The usable lifetime of any power converter is directly related to the operating temperature of its component parts. These factors directly impact the cost, performance and reliability of any power converter.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a power converter of any circuit topology that contains power semiconductor components, magnetic power components and capacitors where a novel means of thermal management is used to substantially improve performance, enhance reliability and reduce costs.

UTILITY OF THE INVENTION

The primary utility of the invention is in DC-to-AC power converters used in large solar photovoltaic power plants. Prior art central inverters for large solar power plants all use forced convection or liquid cooling methods requiring “moving” parts. These inverters typically have a usable lifetime of about fifteen years or half that of the connected solar photovoltaic modules. A power converter based on the natural convection cooled embodiment of the invention can achieve inverter/module lifetime parity. By using the disclosed linear distribution of heat sources, component operating temperatures can be kept much lower per unit cost of heatsink material. Sufficiently low operating temperatures extend component lifetimes and enable the use of internal solid potting materials in order to mitigate condensation, corrosion and particulate contamination. With low operating temperatures, no moving parts and environmental robustness, the natural convection cooled version of the invention is very cost effective at lower power levels and can provide the lowest installation and maintenance costs per unit energy produced over the 25-30 year lifetime of a solar photovoltaic power plant. It must be emphasized that the “low power” limitation does not preclude the use of the natural convection cooled solution in large, multi-megawatt power plants. The invention, in fact, supports and may enable a new paradigm for large power plant design where a large number of distributed DC-to-AC power converters can now be used more cost effectively than one large central inverter.

At higher power levels, where natural convection cooling would not be practical, the forced convection cooled embodiment of the invention provides significant cost benefits over other higher power, prior art converters. Although not as environmentally robust as a potted, natural convection cooled solution, increased reliability is supported by the requirement for less airflow per kilowatt of heat removal and therefore less particulate contamination of heatsink surfaces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1-A natural convection cooled power converter, based on the invention, is shown illustrating the basic arrangement of power components within the converter.

FIG. 2-A detailed cross sectional view of the natural convection cooled power converter shown in FIG. 1 is illustrated.

FIG. 3-A high power, prior art, force convection cooled power converter semiconductor module matrix and heatsink arrangement is illustrated.

FIG. 4-A high power, forced convection cooled power converter semiconductor module matrix and heatsink arrangement, based on the invention, is illustrated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A power converter design using discrete semiconductors and flat-form magnetic components will be described. This low power design is optimized for natural convection cooling. A high power design will next be described which uses semiconductor power modules and forced convection cooling. In both cases it will be demonstrated that with the invention, significant improvements can achieved in power converter performance and with a substantial reduction in power component costs.

FIG. 1 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the invention as a DC to 3-phase AC power converter or inverter. The power converter is housed in a six sided enclosure comprising front panel 11, rear panel 12, top panel 15, bottom panel 16, and side panels 13 and 14. All panels, or sides of the enclosure, act as heatsinks for internal electrical components to transfer heat to ambient air outside of the enclosure. The power converter illustrated is optimized for natural convection but may also be used with a shroud and cooling fan.

The isometric view in FIG. 1 provides the view port references A-A, B-B, C-C and D-D. The D-D section is used for associative reference with FIG. 2. In view A-A, a number of discrete semiconductor devices 1 are thermally bonded to rear panel 12 and are configured in a distributed linear array along the long axis of this panel. The device-to-device spacing varies based on the heat dissipation in each device. Semiconductor devices 1 are the primary heat producing elements in this design. The portion of the rear panel 12 exposed to ambient air has “fins” of a specific triangular cross section, which allows thermal energy to radiate in a direction normal to the fin surfaces without impinging on adjacent “fin” surfaces. In addition, this back panel geometry increases the panel surface area by 41% to decrease the thermal resistance from semiconductor 1 junctions to ambient air while minimizing boundary layer effects, compared to more restrictive rectangular fin geometries. All power converter panels could have this same exterior surface geometry to further reduce the overall temperature rise of the power converter. In view C-C, a number of toroid shaped inductors 2 (the magnetic components) are bonded to front panel 11 with thermally conductive epoxy or other means and are configured in a linear array along the long axis of this panel. Toroid inductors 2 are the second greatest heat producing elements in this design. In both panels 11 and 12, the direction of highest heat transfer is vertical in the direction of the natural convection air flow over the panel exteriors and in the path of least thermal resistance through the larger area cross section of each panel. There are essentially no semiconductor devices 1 or magnetic components 2 directly above or below any other component in the direction of the greatest heat flux, so that heating of one component by an adjacent component is minimized. Capacitors 3 generate a very small percentage of the power converter waste heat but must be kept a much lower operating temperatures than either semiconductor devices 1 or toroid inductors 2. In this design, capacitors 3 are thermally linked to bottom panel 16 and front panel 11. In this design and intended application, the bottom portion of the enclosure will have the lowest temperature rise above ambient, which insures the lowest operating temperature for capacitors 3.

FIG. 2 illustrates the cross section of the power converter illustrated in FIG. 1 per section D-D. FIG. 2 is intended to facilitate a more in-depth discussion of the power converter illustrated in FIG. 1 and as such uses the same reference designators to provide associative reference. In FIG. 2, semiconductor devices 1 are thermally bonded to and electrically isolated from rear panel 12. Thermally conductive adhesives or mechanical clamping, used in conjunction with electrically insulating, thermally conductive interface materials, may be used to bond and/or fasten semiconductor devices 1. For a given semiconductor device, the thermal resistances of junction-to-case, interface material and back panel-to-ambient air are additive. Insulated metal substrates may also be used to provide this desired function. In order to reject heat from semiconductor devices 1 to ambient air and not back into the enclosure, a thermally insulating material 21, such as adhesive backed closed cell foam, is bonded to the inside of enclosure back panel 12. On the inside of front panel 11, flat-form toroidal inductors 2 are thermally bonded to the panel, with thermally conductive epoxy or by other means, in a linear array opposite the semiconductor linear array. A thermally insulating material 22 is used to cover the exposed interior surfaces of the magnetic components for the same purpose of restricting heat flow into the power converter enclosure. Capacitors 3 are mounded in the coolest, bottom part of the enclosure and are thermally coupled to bottom panel 16 and may also be thermally coupled to front panel 11 using conformable, heat conductive gap pads 23. While not shown in FIG. 1 or 2, there are a plurality of other components within the power converter, components which must be thermally managed. As such, the remaining power converter area 4, is filled with a thermally conductive material, such as a silicone-based potting gel. The gel provides (i) a thermal equalization and transfer media to non-thermally-insulated surfaces on front plate 11 and top plate 15, (ii) a robust moisture and dust seal, (iii) vibration and shock protection and (iv) dielectric component-to-component isolation.

One application for the power converter described in the preceding sections is as a solar photovoltaic power converter for multi-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plants where a plurality low power distributed power converters are used. With the environmentally sealed, fanless, low-temperature-rise power converter herein disclosed, a power converter lifetime commensurate with that of solar module lifetimes can be realized.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a power converter designed primarily for lower power convection cooled applications. The invention may be applied with similar benefits in high power forced convection applications. FIG. 3 shows a prior art solution for a high power DC to 3-phase semiconductor switching matrix and heatsink assembly as is commonly used in motor drives, UPS systems and renewable energy power converters, employing six half-bridge power modules 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 with two connected directly in parallel per AC phase. The power modules are thermally bonded to heatsink baseplate 48. Heat rejection to ambient air is accomplishes by forced convection through heatsink fins 49. Three views of the assembly are illustrated top, side and front (from top to bottom, right to left). The six power modules are mounted on a heatsink spaced apart in two dimensions to mitigate the heating of one module by adjacent modules. The heat generated in power modules 44, 45 and 46 will add to the temperature rise of power modules 41, 42, and 43 respectively and overall, all power modules will raise the temperatures of all others, bottom-to-top and side-to-side to a lesser degree. The basis of prior art forced convection cooling design is to approximate a constant heatsink base plate temperature by using a heatsink with a thick, heat-spreading base plate and a large fin surface area and by providing high air flow across fin 49 surfaces. The end goal is to keep all semiconductor junction temperatures equal so that current is shared equally by all parallel devices. Arrow 52 indicates the direction of air flow through the heatsink. Air entering the heatsink at intake port 51 will be cooler than the air leaving exhaust port 53 and heatsink baseplate 48 will always cooler near intake port 51 compared to exhaust port 53. In very general terms, and with other variables held constant, the longer the heatsink, from intake to exhaust, the higher the temperature difference from end to end. In practice, a shroud or some plenum structure, not shown, will be used to (only) direct cooling air through the areas between the fins. The cross hatched sections in FIG. 3, as indicated by reference designator 40, shows a linear arrangement of multiple semiconductor die within the power modules. The problem of cooling a square or rectangular module matrix is compounded by the linear arrangement semiconductor dies within the modules because the bottom dies will to some extent heat the top dies.

FIG. 4 illustrates an improved method and a second embodiment of the invention where power modules 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 and 66 are used instead of discrete devices used in the preferred embodiment. In FIG. 4, the same power modules used in the FIG. 3 prior art solution are arranged end-to-end as are the internal linear semiconductor die arrays 60. In this design the semiconductor die 60 temperatures can be kept equal with a thinner baseplate 68, less fin 69 area, and a much shorter heatsink length intake port 71 to exhaust port 73. As a result, the back pressure for the forced convection fans is reduced as is the air velocity requirement. If less cooling air is required the amount of heatsink particulate contamination and surface corrosion is reduced. The prior art method in contrast can be considered brute force by comparison. In addition, there is a law of diminishing returns for any such cooling system where a larger heatsink and higher air flow rates offer little percentage improvement and may work against the end goal. For example, as the heatsink base plate thickness is increased to provide better lateral heat spreading, the thermal resistance from the semiconductor dies to the fins (normal to the module attachment surface) is increased.

For clarity, FIGS. 3 and 4 are used only to illustrate the key premise of the invention; the benefit of using a linear distribution of heat sources arranged perpendicular to the flow of cooling air. In practice, the module and heatsink arrangement shown in FIG. 4 would be connected to a laminated buss assembly containing a number of DC energy storage “power” capacitors. The magnetic components, typically line filter reactors to used integrate the high frequency pulse modulated signals from the semiconductor switching matrix can, in this forced convection design, be decoupled from the semiconductor module and heatsink assembly and mounted in the bottom of the power converter cabinet to insure the weight distribution stability of the power converter cabinet. The common theme in both embodiments is the relative placement of the three primary heat producing power components, semiconductors, magnetics and capacitors. In the forced convection embodiment, outside ambient cooling air flows over the capacitors first, before being preheated by any other heat sources, then through the semiconductor module matrix heatsink fins and then over the magnetic components. The intent is to progressively cool the most heat sensitive components, the capacitors, first and the least heat sensitive components, the magnetics, last as the cooling air is progressively raised from ambient temperature to the power converter exhaust temperature. Power capacitors in large prior art power converters are typically not in the ambient air cooling path. Any number of plenum and directional air ducting methods can be used to achieve this function. The exact details on how these ancillary functions are implemented for use with the primary semiconductor and heatsink arrangement shown in FIG. 4 are beyond the scope of this invention and disclosure. 

1. An electrical power converter apparatus comprising a heatsink and a plurality of power components, such as but not limited to, semiconductor devices and magnetic components and where power components are thermally coupled to the heatsink and where power components are arranged on the heatsink in a linear array on axis with or on a path with the highest thermal resistance or restated where power components are arranged on the heatsink in a linear array on a line perpendicular to the path of highest thermal flux through a heatsink cross section.
 2. An electrical power converter apparatus according to claim 1 where multiple heatsinks are used and where each heatsink has a degree of thermal isolation from all others.
 3. A natural convection cooled electrical power converter according to claim 1 where said power components are thermally coupled to the heatsink and where the power components are attached to the heatsink in a linear arrangement along the horizontal axis of the heatsink such that there are no power components vertically above or below any other power components.
 4. A forced convection, air-cooled power converter according to claim 1 further comprising power capacitors, magnetic components not mounted to a heatsink, an air intake port, an air exhaust port, a plenum or means of directing cooling air within the power converter and a means of moving cooling air through the plenum and where the plenum further comprises; a means of first directing ambient cooling air from the intake port around power capacitors and next a means of further directing cooling air across or through a heatsink where semiconductor devices are arranged in a linear array perpendicular to cooling air flow and next a means of further directing cooling air across magnetic components and next a means of further directing air to exit the exhaust port.
 5. A liquid cooled power converter according to claim 1 where said power components are thermally coupled to a cold plate heatsink and where the power components are attached to a cold plate heatsink in a linear arrangement along an axis perpendicular to the flow of cooling liquid.
 6. A power converter according to claim 1 with an enclosure having six sides and where a side with the longest dimensions is used as the heatsink to transfer heat from the inside of the enclosure to the outside of the enclosure and where multiple power components are thermally coupled to the heatsink and arranged in a linear array parallel to said longest dimension.
 7. A power converter according to claim 1 with an enclosure having six sides and where a side with the longest dimensions is used as a heatsink to transfer heat from the inside of the enclosure to the outside of the enclosure and where multiple power components are thermally coupled to the heatsink and arranged in a linear array parallel to said longest dimension and where the interior of the enclosure is filled or potted with a material or materials that provide electrical dielectric isolation, enhanced thermal conductivity, enhanced thermal insulation and/or an environmental seal.
 8. A power converter according to claim 1 cooled by natural convection where said heatsink has a horizontal cross section comprising a rectangular base area and a plurality of, triangular, side-by-side fins, on a side of the heatsink exposed to ambient air where surfaces of a given triangular fin meet at a 90 degree angle at the peak of the fin or where any other fin geometry is used where thermal radiation normal to the plane of the fin surfaces does not impinge on adjacent fins.
 9. A power converter according to claim 1 where heat transfer from a side of the heatsink not intended for primary heat transfer to ambient air, cooling liquid or heat pipe is thermally insulated to reduce heat transfer to other components and devices within the power converter.
 10. A power converter according to claim 1 where magnetic components are bonded to the heatsink surface with a thermally conductive adhesive.
 11. A power converter according to claim 1 where capacitors are located in an area with the least temperature rise above ambient and are not considered as power components with respect to a capacitors ability to significantly heat an adjacent power component.
 12. A power converter according to claim 1 providing thermoelectric or photovoltaic DC to DC conversion, DC to single-phase AC conversion or DC to three-phase AC conversion.
 13. A method of arranging heat sources such as semiconductor devices, passive components and magnetic components in a power converter where said sources are arranged so that no source is physically located in the path of highest heat flow from any other similar sources or restated where the thermal energy of one heat source in the direction of highest thermal flux is not additive in the direction of the highest thermal flux on any other similar source so that the temperature rise of any source due to heat transfer from any other source is minimized.
 14. A method according to claim 13 where a number of heat sources are so arranged to substantially provide the benefits of having all the heat sources arranged per claim
 13. 15. A power converter for converting solar photovoltaic power comprising a sealed dust-tight, water-tight enclosure with a number of sides enclosing a plurality of semiconductor power components, a plurality of magnetic power components, a plurality of capacitors, control circuits, a plurality of thermal and dielectric materials and further comprising a means to transfer waste heat from semiconductor and magnet power components from the interior of the enclosure to ambient air outside of the enclosure through a side or sides of the enclosure and where power components are thermally coupled to a side or sides of the enclosure in a line or linear array in a direction with the highest thermal resistance through an enclosure side cross section.
 16. A power converter according to claim 15 further comprising a means of thermally insulating semiconductor and magnetic components from other components inside the enclosure.
 17. A power converter according to claim 15 further comprising an interior solid or gel potting and/or encapsulant material. 